Christmas 2020

 Bah Humbug!

In keeping with the general spirit of 2020, I am channeling my inner Scrooge as I write this year’s newsletter.  We greeted the new decade with bright eyes and bushy tails, only to have our whole lives upended by Covid mid-March.  Emma (as Wendy) and Elizabeth (as the Ostrich in Neverland)  had just finished their performances in the high school play “Peter Pan” the weekend before Washington state’s stay-at-home order went into effect.  And then, life as we knew it came to a screeching halt.  I took the girls to the library on the last day it was open and we checked out 45 books and 3 movies. That lasted us about a month.  We got to try a drive-in version of church for one Sunday before that too was shut down.  At that point, Ryan and I succumbed to pressure from our kids and started a subscription to Disney+.  I did organize some measures to keep the girls intellectually engaged until either school would resume or… something else happened.  Annie did sneak home on the last day of school the book the 5th graders were reading, so both Annie and Maddie were able to find out how “Chains” ended.  Otherwise, they would have been left in mid-story purgatory.  Emma’s College in the Classroom classes resumed online fairly quickly, and by that time Ryan was in nearly constant online and phone meetings.  It was at this point we realized how truly awful our internet was and that it was time to spread our internet wings beyond what the rural, local phone company could provide.

Some kind of semblance of school resumed at the end of April for the kids, and one day rolled into the next in a monotonous hum of “stuck at home.” Things that stand out from Spring are: 

1. Ryan having Zoom meetings in a porch chair outside, with his computer sitting on a Disney princess card table that somehow we still have from when the girls were small, with Dickens the cat laying on Ryan’s papers.

2. Going on bike rides around Sunnyside and Grandview.  Going on long walks.  Gardening.  Lots of Gardening.

3. Family game time- Twister, Ticket to Ride, Cover Your Kingdom and Antiquity Quest, Life, Five Crowns, Splendor, SkipBo, Jenga, and Split. (Among others…)

4. Annie and Maddie finishing 5th grade by picking up their belongings in a school drive-thru, their things pre-scraped into black trash bags, 96 days after the last time they were able to be at school.

5. All of our baking projects.  Our favorite was the Giant Cookie Challenge put on by Our Best Bites on Instagram.  Those were BIG cookies we made and ate.

Spring progressed into Summer. We got to pick up Elizabeth, Annie, and Maddie’s dance costumes we paid for and never used. Emma got her first grown-up job as a cherry checker for a local farm.  She had to be at work at 4:30 am, 4-7 days a week for a few weeks.  She came to the conclusion that this kind of agricultural work is not her dream occupation. The Zoom meetings for the kids were at an end, but Ryan was the Energizer Bunny who just kept going and going and going.  Generally, his workload eases for the month of July, but not this year.  The administration of the school district had to reinvent the educational wheel during this time of plague, based on rules and guidelines that come and go and changed on what seemed a weekly basis.  We managed to steal Ryan away from work for one week and we drove 987 miles in one day to southern Utah.  While driving that far in a day can be done, we do not recommend it.  We enjoyed the sights of Bryce Canyon, National Reef, Arches, and Moab.  We experienced some of the hottest hikes ever known in the Kannely family.  We gained an appreciation for early morning hikes before it was over 90 degrees and the swimming pool in the evenings.  Naps, games, and movies are appropriate for afternoons in Moab.  We enjoyed all the family time on this trip, actually stopping to see extended family members.  We managed not to be the harbinger of sickness, so that’s a plus.  In August the girls and I went to Ryan’s family reunion, but without Ryan in tow.  It was half at Ensign Ranch near Cle Elum, and half at his parents house.  Somehow or other, one of the girls got the stomach flu at Ensign Ranch in the middle of the 2nd night. A word to the wise, you don’t want to have to clean up puke at a rustic, non-plumbed cabin in the dark.  It’s not a pleasant job.  Inexplicably, the family wanted us back after 24 hours at home.  We also experienced virtual Driver’s Ed class with Elizabeth.  Honestly, is a boring, monotone voice a requirement for teaching teens how to drive?

And then it was Autumn.  School at home began, and what a wild ride that was.  Every teacher had their own way to post links to either Zoom or Google Meet classes and how to turn in assignments, and it took us a solid week to figure it all out.  I felt like I was parenting young children again.  I couldn’t even use the bathroom without a shout of “MOM!” urging my quick assistance.  I became the Awkward Extra tromping through webcam classes, walking by in pjs or exercise clothes, hauling baskets of laundry or doing other household chores.  Annie and Maddie started middle school band, playing the clarinet and trombone respectively.  Their favorite place to have band class is in my bedroom.  We’ve all heard of garage bands, but bedroom middle school bands are something else entirely.  Elizabeth took Painting (which used not one whit of paint in reality), Biology (lab-free), and Yoga (my favorite day was when she learned Corpse Pose and was just horizontal on the floor).  Emma took 4th year French (which included doing Yoga explained in French), AP Calculus (she says this is when math gets fun and interesting….), and is having the saddest excuse of a Senior year (no plays, no seniors strutting through the corridors, and as Junior class vice-president- they didn’t actually get to put on the Prom they paid and planned for).  Early morning seminary actually got moved forward an hour to 7:30 am, so that’s not so bad.  The school district is transitioning to hybrid learning (part in-person, part online) and Annie and Maddie have attended a whopping two days of in-person classes so far.  The high schoolers are indefinitely postponed, however.  You can guess how well that went over in this house.

Ryan is keeping busy.  He has left most of his usual gardening and yard work to his wife (any excuse to leave the confines of the house!) with all of the hours he spends at work.  He was finally released from the Bishopric at church last month.  Recently Ryan forgot to take one of his reusable masks to work with him, and ended up using one of the blue disposable kinds.  Unfortunately this happened on a day he also forgot to shave, so he had a nice amount of rough stubble on his face.  That whisker stubble rubbed constantly on the mask and shredded the mask on the inside to the point he had fibers the consistency of cotton candy floating around, waiting to be inhaled, eaten, or snorted.  

I discovered merino wool this year.  It sounds like such an odd thing to be excited about, but there it is.  I bought wool socks, shirts, and now one of those super thick Irish Aran Island sweaters for my birthday.  It’s the first time I’ve been warm in December in years.  Out of a year like this one, we take the wins when we can.  I’ve also tried to teach myself how to play the piano.  I’m making progress.

In this year of ups and downs we have definitely had some silver linings.  Family time has been (mostly) great.  We went on some beautiful hikes.  We learned that passing wind doesn’t make you lighter- the opposite is true.  We’ve made a record height Jenga tower before it fell.  We learned how to insult each other in Shakespearean English (You churlish, beetle-headed foot-licker!), we’ve read a lot of books, and done a lot of crafts.  We’ve had time to be thoughtful, and our family scripture study is the best it has ever been.  Adversity has a way of making us appreciate our blessings.  During these dark days of winter, we can focus on the light of our Savior Jesus Christ shining into our lives, and feel His peace.  Let us press forward with faith and hope (and a sense of humor), and we can be glad 2021 isn’t an election year.

Signing off with a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for the new year.

Love, 

Ryan, Danae, Emma, Elizabeth, Annie, and Maddie

Pandemic Adventures

 Sometimes stories are too funny not to record.

Elizabeth came up to me one evening and mentioned in a low voice that she only had one bra that fits comfortably and could we please go shopping sometime soon?  Sunnyside has a very limited selection of shopping options (I'm looking at you, Walmart) so I opted to take Elizabeth with me to Yakima.  The high school had "Grace Week," which is 5 school days with no new work assigned and a chance to turn in past-due assignments in a last-ditch attempt to bring the number of students passing their classes up, around the time of Thanksgiving break.  It felt like a lot of free time for the high school-aged kids, but it did mean that I could take Elizabeth shopping during the before lunch hours of the day.  

We went to Target and headed straight for the underwear department.  We had an idea of the sizes to find so that Elizabeth could try several on and see what would work best for her, comfort-wise.  She is pretty particular about things feeling soft and not restrictive on her body, and bras can be a bit fiddly.  The options for wire-free and scratchy lace-free weren't fabulous but we found some options in some different styles, regardless of the color.  Online ordering can come to the rescue once Elizabeth finds a style she likes.  

We made our way down to the fitting rooms only to find carts parked in the walkways and a sign that said "Closed."  Then I remembered that the governor had put restrictions on public places again and dressing rooms were out of the question due to the rising Covid case numbers.  

Well then.

Sunnyside doesn't have good clothing options and Yakima is only a little better.  Dressing rooms are closed anywhere we might go.  It's a solid 35 minute drive home from Target and I didn't really want to drive all the way back to Yakima another day to return what didn't fit.  So I asked Elizabeth if she'd be ok with using our minivan as a dressing room.  Mind you, this wasn't a "shirt off, shirt on again" quick change.  It was down to the birthday suit in a public parking lot.  She did not look excited about the suggestion, but I promised I would drive the van over to the outer reaches of the parking lot and Elizabeth reluctantly agreed.  I reminded her of the times we've changed into swimsuits in our car and told her it wouldn't be so bad.  This would be a story she can tell her kids someday.

I think she rolled her eyes at me.

So, we got in line and paid for the 5 bras.  We moved the minivan to the back of the parking lot by an out of business shop.  Our van has built in shades that we pulled up in the middle and back rows of seating, and Elizabeth sat on the floor and settled in.  I sat in the driver's seat, facing forward, and gave Elizabeth as much privacy as I could.  

In the end, only one of the bras suited her.  Another fit fine, but burgundy was a little too much color for underwear in Elizabeth's opinion.  (I would happen to agree.)  So I returned 4 bras and we resolved to do some online shopping for the rest.

Why is shopping for underwear so complicated?

Distance Learning 2.0 Begins

 The lead up to school starting has been very different from all of our other years.  Considering this is Emma's senior year, we've had a bit of experience.  We've done almost no back to school shopping.  No new backpacks.  No clean, sharpened crayons.  No highlighters.  I did order some headphones and a battery-powered pencil sharpener, and we've picked up some composition notebooks.  But if we are just at home, I see no reason to buy pristine new pencils when we have lots and lots of used ones and no one is going to see them.  I have a decent amount of lined paper stocked up.  We did go pick up a couple of Chromebooks from the school district, so we are one-to-one devices and ready to go.  I also got a whiteboard to write reminders on.

This is a completely staged picture but seemed to represent our thoughts on the first day of school.

The kids don't actually use my bedroom and bed for doing school work.  It's my space!  Besides, we have chairs and tables downstairs that work much better.  I decided that the craft table (our old kitchen table), being close to the wifi router, would be the best spot for schoolwork, and the kids can spread out to the couch, or floor, or whatever floats their boat.  I've cleared off a shelf of a bookcase so the kids can store their composition notebooks and/or binders there.  There was a small part of me that was in denial that this distance learning model was going to be a significant portion, if not all, of our school year so I didn't really get things set up until school was starting.

The first day of school went pretty smoothly.  The high schoolers had a single class with their advisory teacher, and my middle schoolers had a "Welcome to 6th Grade!" online assembly and then a class with their new advisory teacher.  Annie and Maddie are in the same classes and are pretty excited about it.  They've wanted that since kindergarten.  However, they each need to be on their own device, on their own Zoom meeting with the same teacher, each using up precious bandwidth space on our limited rural internet.  Hopefully, all 4 girls won't need to stream their faces for all of the meetings.  

Thursday, the second day, was a little more eventful.  Annie and Maddie had the mistaken assumption that they would start right off with their regular schedule, printed and taped to the wall.  Thursdays are "B" days, starting them with PE and not Band.  However, the first week of school had its own schedule with 15 or 30 minute sessions with all of the classes and by the time we figured this out, Band was done.  The second day of school, and already they had skipped first period. Not off to a strong start.  This was partly my fault.  I had wanted to get my exercise in before school started, and I hadn't given myself enough time to deal with interruptions and finish before 8:30.  ("Just 5 more minutes!")  But this was just the beginning.  Each teacher gets to choose Google Meets vs Zoom, and everyone has a different place to store the links for the online class.  Sometimes the best link is found in an email (with sometimes three different emails from a teacher proclaiming "Zoom Link" and "Updated Zoom Link" and a 2nd "Updated Zoom Link."  Goodness, where to start?).  Sometimes the link is found on Google Classroom either in "stream" or "classwork."  And sometimes the link is found on Schoology, easily visible, or hidden in an attachment.  Emma and Elizabeth had headphones, but Annie and Maddie didn't yet so the middle school teachers voices distracted my high schoolers.  Emma was self-sufficient, but Elizabeth needed my help a couple of times to find her links in addition to Annie and Maddie, and high school and middle school classes start at different times.  I did not intend to hover, but I didn't feel like I had a choice!  I got a few of my own responsibilities done during this time, but it was heavily interrupted and stressful, and couldn't this just be done already?  We all heaved a sigh of relief when the scheduled meetings were done.  Homework the kids could handle, and there really wasn't much.

Friday was much the same.  Hidden links, was this the right meeting?, and Emma ended up missing one of her classes because she was never "let in" to the Zoom meeting.  Was it because Zoom was having an issue?  Was it because she clicked the wrong link?  We'll never know.  Annie and Maddie, having no issue getting to PE the day before, struggled Friday.  They got into TWO Google Meets with students in each, but no teacher.  After 12 minutes of waiting and trying to figure things out, another student dropped a URL in the chat, and that was the one that took them to the right meeting.  Whew, 3 minutes to spare.

Please excuse me while I go beat my head against the wall.  

But the first week is done, and that is a reason to celebrate.

We miss regular school so much!

A Time To Barf

 It was Grandpa Camp week.  A time of togetherness, as the extended family gets bigger and the cousins get larger, um older.  After the girls and I spend an enjoyable couple of nights at Ensign Ranch earlier in the summer, I suggested that we take Grandpa Camp on the road. Nature! Kayaks! Trails! Mosquitos! What's not to love?

My in-laws rented a couple of rustic cabins, and I rented one for myself.  Ryan was unable to join at all during the week, working practically from sun up to sundown.  Even if he is home before dinner, his phone chimes constantly demanding his attention.  If I was attending Ryan's family reunion on my own, I was going to have my own space.  I have the introvert's decided need for quiet down-time.  And a place of my own to sleep.  I have been known to complain about sharing a sleeping space with my kids, but sleeping in the same space as my brother and sisters-in-law?  I'll take my own kids any time over that.  They are just more comfortable, especially when my normal bed-buddy isn't there.  The rustic cabins didn't have running water, but they did have a refrigerator, lights and electricity.  There was a downstairs bedroom with a full-size bed and a bunk bed.  The upstairs was just an open loft.  My kids opted to sleep in my cabin.  Annie and Elizbeth shared the bunk bed, and Emma and Maddie spread out in the loft.  

Now that the stage has been set, here's the interesting story.  

The second night of our stay just as I was drifting off to sleep, I heard footsteps going down the stairs (ok, not a problem) and then the front door opening (more troubling).  I loudly whispered the question of, "Where are you going?" and Emma answered back, "I'm going to the Biffy." (That is Ensign Ranch's nice name for the Porta-potties.)  She closed the door behind her, and then I heard loud coughing.  My half-awake brain wondered if she had swallowed a bug or something as she exited the cabin, but I didn't wonder very hard.  The more pressing issue was hoping she took a flashlight and how long before she got back, so I could relax and try to sleep again?

After a minute or so, Emma opened the door and groaned out, "Mom, I need help."

Uh oh.  That doesn't sound good.

"I threw up," she continued.  

Oh great.  I crawled out of my sleeping bag, grabbed a flashlight, shoes, and sweatshirt before heading for the door.  

Yep, she had thrown up alright.  All over the porch, the welcome mat, and her shoes.  Why couldn't she have made it to the bushes??!?

I guided her by the light of my headlamp to the Biffy across the road and waited for her to finish her business.  While I waited, I processed how I was going to clean up the mess.  Come on brain, think!  I had worried plenty about having to camp by myself; how could I not have a contingency plan for this? I have no soap.  Plenty of hand-sanitizer, but that won't help any.  The nice sister missionary who checked us in gave me a 5 gallon bucket in case we wanted to have a fire.  That bucket would be useful for carrying water from the water spigot down a ways back to the cabin to wash the barf off the porch.  The senior missionaries are sticklers for cleanliness when it comes to checking out of the cabins, and they aren't going to like those bodily fluids (plus chips and chili) one bit.

We returned to the cabin, and I helped get Emma's sleeping mat, pillow, and sleeping bag down the stairs.  She left her shoes outside.  I grabbed the barf bucket from the van, lined with a plastic bag all ready in case of motion sickness, and left it beside my shivering daughter cocooned in her sleeping bag while I headed back outside to deal with the mess.

I got my 5-gallon bucket and walked down to our source of water.  There is no way my wimpy girl arms are going to haul a full bucket all the way back to the cabin, so I filled it until I thought it was good enough.  And thus began my trips back and forth hauling water.  I wanted to sit down and call Ryan so I could whine about "all the things I have to deal with when you aren't around."  But I resisted the urge.  It took many trips for water, as the mess was surprisingly clingy to the porch and mat.  At last I prevailed, checked on Emma, and then crawled back into my own nylon bag.

It was not a restful night.  Thankfully those prayers heavenward were heard and Emma was not sick again.  That girl is not known for her aim when she has the stomach flu, and I worried in and out of sleep that she would be sick again but this time inside the cabin. 

At last, the sun rose and it was time to get up.  I then called Ryan to tell him about our night, and maybe whined a little about "all those things I deal with," and then called my in-laws to tell them the news.  I didn't want to make everyone else be around our germs, so we were going home.  But could we still come by their cabin so we could get some breakfast?  Most of us were hungry.

The whole family was breaking camp that morning to go to my in-law's house. I have a sneaking suspicion my in-laws would have been ok with us taking our germs to their house, as they were most insistent that the kids should come to their house the following day.  But I really wanted to just go home, and the girls were fine with that plan.  So we packed up, cleaned our cabin, cleaned the Biffys, and did not mention the splash stains on the porch when we were checked out.  I could not rid all of the evidence from the porch with plain ol' water. 

Rub a dub dub

In the almost 8 years we've lived in our house, this is the 3rd time the well has gone out.  No working well means no water for us.  We have some stored water, but it isn't quite the same.  At the end of the day, Ryan wanted to be clean.  So he bought a new garbage can from Ace Hardwear, took it to our neighbor's house, and filled it with water from the hose.  Nice, fresh, very cool water.  

 In the end, we couldn't goad him into taking an actual bath.  The water was too cold for sinking into, even for Ryan.  He decided he would let the garbage can sit in the back of his truck and soak up all the sun rays it could, and then he could take a soaking bath tonight if the well wasn't back up and running by then.

We were able to get someone out to fix the well.  I'm pretty sure the well died because I mentioned to a friend that we never hire people to do projects around our house.  Ryan is pretty handy and we DIY nearly everything to save our pennies.  And thanks to this lovely circumstance, I am thus proved wrong: sometimes we do have to hire things out.

The fellow that came remembered the previous owners and lectured ME about all the reasons why putting the control panel inside of the well was a bad idea.  Cutting corners is the reason why the control panel died and we didn't have water.  And, as he reminded me, a house is almost nothing, barely civilized, without running water.  

Thanks, I'll remember that the next time I'm putting in a well.

But our water is running again, and life is good.

Paradise

After returning from our sweltering visit to southern Utah, it was time to enjoy the beauty of Mt. Rainier.  The girls were not sold on another high altitude hike, so Ryan and I took off on our own adventure for the day.

Oh hello there, beautiful pine trees and wildflowers.  As far up the mountain as we were, there weren't a ton of flowers blooming yet.

The Google reviews said there was still snow on the trail when I was researching where we should hike.  I just didn't realize there would be this much.  So long trail!

 

Hiking in the summer snow was a different experience.  I've walked in the snow plenty of times but I usually avoid a lot of walking in hilly, super slushy conditions.  And obviously, I was not as prepared for as much snow as there was.

Remind me never to wear cotton socks with tennis shoes in the snow ever again.  My feet were damp the whole day.  The good news is these sporty capris were absolutely perfect.  When my feet slipped out from under me and I landed on my behind (in front of some people heading uphill), the snow brushed right off and no wet marks were left to show off my shame.

After our Paradise hike, we headed down the mountain and ended up stopping at Grove of the Patriarchs.  It's been years since we've been there.  Ryan remembered the river and thought it would be nice to visit it, after looping around the big trees.  We peeled off our shoes and socks and listened to the calming sounds of the river.

I admired the great tan lines I was developing while dipping my toes as little as possible.  That snow runoff was too cold for me to stay in long.  

Ryan lasted much longer.

I ended up sitting on the dry rocks out of the water and letting my feet air out.  I didn't reach fully dry, but it didn't matter because I was putting on wet socks and shoes again anyway.  

It was a great day for a mountain adventure, and the company was even better.

Not-so-Little Lambs

Our luck continues to hold.  Of course the year we decide to be "all in" for raising lambs for the Grandview fair would be the year of the COVID pandemic and shut down of all fairs in our state.  But seeing as we already owned the lambs that the girls picked out, we fed them and watched them grow in our pasture.  Our 4-H leader happens to be a personal friend, and their family decided to have a 3 family version of a livestock show so at least our kids could practice their show skills.  Or lack thereof, in our case.  But before the show, we had to tame the sheep in a week's time.  We hadn't done any taming prior to this, due to a lack of motivation from having no show in which to show off.  Ryan's solution was: capture each animal, drag it on the sheep stand, and wash the poor things with cold hose water and Dawn dish soap.

 Ryan had the chance to show off all of his sheep skills he developed from raising his own herd way back in his high school days and further used as a teacher of agriculture.  Evidently, those skills are just like riding a bike- once learned they don't leave you.

Sacrament Meeting talk

Being a teenager in the 1990s, the yearly trip to the temple to do baptisms for the dead was somewhat of a pilgrimage.  I lived north of Spokane near a town called Newport, and it was about a 5 ½ hour car ride to the Seattle Temple from our meeting point at the church in Priest River, Idaho.  Due to the long hours spent in the car, the trip was always in the summer and was always expected to be overnight.  We would stay at Ensign Ranch, with a few hours of outside adventures like rope swings or floating down the river in an intertube, followed by a dutch oven dinner and a fireside, before enjoying our pioneer-like sleeping accommodations.  The morning found us fasting breakfast, slipping into rumpled church clothes pulled from our backpacks and journeying the last hour to the temple (or more, especially if your driver decided to drive east to Cle Elum for gas before driving west to Bellevue).  It was always a happy relief to see the golden Angel Moroni high above the trees, proclaiming we were just about ready to get out of the car.  After baptisms and confirmations, our ward leaders would turn the whole lot of us starving teenagers over to an all-you-can-eat buffet before the long journey home.  Needless to say, a trip to the temple was an event.
We are blessed to live in a time and place where temple attendance doesn’t require as much time and physical preparation.  I can attend the temple with a friend during the hours my kids are at school or make a date of it with my husband for an evening.  This doesn’t mean that temple attendance is any less important by being more readily available.  The prophets and apostles have stressed over and over the privilege and sacred responsibility we have to attend the temple as often as our circumstances allow.  We still do need to prepare physically to attend the temple.  Time must be scheduled for temple attendance, babysitters to arrange, and even small things such as wearing our Sunday best to enter the Lord’s holy house.  We are guests in the House of the Lord, and as Boyd K Packer stresses in his book, “The Holy Temple” that we should "comport ourselves with dignity and refinement in such a way that we would feel comfortable should our Host appear."
Even more important than physical preparation is spiritual preparation.  President Russell M Nelson in his April 2001 talk, “Personal Preparation for Temple Blessings” states that “As temples are prepared for our members, our members need to prepare for the temple.”  We are definitely living in an age when so many temples are being prepared for our use. Every General Conference brings an announcement of new temples to be built.  Each temple has the words “Holiness to the Lord” engraved on the outside.  This can remind us that both the purpose of the temple is holy, and an attribute we need to earnestly seek is holiness.  President Nelson in the same talk said, “The temple is the house of the Lord. The basis for every temple ordinance and covenant—the heart of the plan of salvation—is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Every activity, every lesson, all we do in the Church, point to the Lord and His holy house. Our efforts to proclaim the gospel, perfect the Saints, and redeem the dead all lead to the temple. Each holy temple stands as a symbol of our membership in the Church, as a sign of our faith in life after death, and as a sacred step toward eternal glory for us and our families."
From a very young age, we should teach our children the importance of the temple.  Some ways we have done this is to have pictures of the temple in our home.  We’ve taken our small children to the temple grounds, and while there, snapped a picture of our girls there to display in our home.  We’ve talked about the blessings of the temple.  And of course, we try to attend the temple regularly as an example is the best teacher.  We are lucky to live in a time where temple open houses sporadically happen within driving distance.  We’ve been to three as a family, and are eagerly awaiting the temple in Moses Lake.
Just last month we were able to able to attend the temple as a family for youth baptisms.  With the age adjustments for Young Men and Young Women announced at the end of 2018, we realized that our wait to go as a family was considerably shortened.  Annie and Maddie were just two months past their 11th birthdays in January.  It was an amazing and joyful experience to be in the temple as a family.  The changes are exciting.  I loved watching each of the youth cycle through being witnesses before being baptized.  There is a general air of excitement when the youth bring their own family names for baptisms.  We have done so, and also passed off some of our family names to some of the young men in our ward for baptisms, as we are lacking in the young men department in our home.  We were able to watch, if not always participate in, the baptism and confirmation of 3 of Ryan’s grandparents and his uncle who have passed away.
Baptism for the dead is not the only ordinance done in the temple.  Another ordinance received in the temple is the endowment. The word endowment means “gift,” and the temple endowment truly is a gift from God. The ordinance consists of a series of instructions and includes covenants to live righteously and follow the requirements of the gospel. The endowment focuses on the Savior, His role in Heavenly Father’s plan, and the personal commitment of each member to follow Him.
Another temple ordinance is celestial marriage. In this ordinance, husband and wife are sealed to one another for eternity. For many centuries it has been the practice all over the world to use an official seal to certify that a document is valid.  The word seal in that context becomes synonymous for endorse, to license, to ratify, to authorize, and to bind.  To seal, then, is the right word to be used to represent the spiritual authority from God to man to bind families together.  Binding or sealing families together into an unbroken chain can be comforting to those who have lost loved ones, or those like me who come from three and four generations of broken families.  I have not met all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins.  And yet, one of the times Ryan and I were doing sealings, I had an “aha” moment.  These ancestors of mine, who I have not met in this life, are still my family- a part of my eternal family.  This may not sound like anything life-changing for some, but for me with not many close family relationships, it was a balm to my soul.  President Eyring put it this way: For some, that [hope of] eternal [family] joy may seem a faint or even a fading hope. Parents, children, brothers, and sisters may have made choices that seem to disqualify them from eternal life. You may even wonder whether you have yet been qualified through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. A prophet of God once offered me counsel that gives me peace. I was worried that the choices of others might make it impossible for our family to be together forever. He said, “You are worrying about the wrong problem. You just live worthy of the celestial kingdom, and the family arrangements will be more wonderful than you can imagine.”  --I am both lucky and blessed that Ryan took a chance on me, in spite of a rocky family history and some traumatic experiences in my past.  Together we can work towards our own Celestial family through consistent time and effort of putting the Savior first in our lives.  Not that we are anywhere near perfect in this.  This mortal life may be our test to prove ourselves to Heavenly Father, but through the atonement of Jesus Christ, it’s an “open book” test with chances for repentance to fix mistakes and many opportunities for help along the way- if we live worthily.  And it isn’t easy.  Challenges always come.  One of my favorite quotes from Jeffrey R Holland is this: “Expecting a trouble-free life because you are a good person is like expecting the bull not to charge you because you are a vegetarian.”
Before entering the temple, one needs to be already keeping the commandments and be ready to make and keep sacred covenants with the Lord.  Once we receive our own ordinances, we can go back and act on behalf of our ancestors and others who did not have the opportunity to have these saving ordinances.  We are blessed when we go to the temple and those blessings are not limited to the time spent in the temple.  We are blessed in all aspects of our lives.  Our labors in the temple strengthen and refine us.  President Thomas S Monson in his talk “The Holy Temple- A Beacon to the World,” says this: “The world can be a challenging and difficult place.  We are often surrounded by that which would drag us down.  As you and I go to the holy houses of God, as we remember the covenants we make within, we will be more able to bear every trial and to overcome each temptation.  In this sacred sanctuary, we will find peace; we will be renewed and fortified.”
I love to go to the temple.  I love the peace it brings to my life and the guidance I can find there for my life.  I also appreciate the spiritual “sunshine” boost I get from going during the cloudy and dreary winter months.
I’d like to end with this quote from President Nelson’s talk: “With each ordinance is a covenant- a promise.  A promise made with God is not restrictive but protective.  Such a concept is not new.  For example, if our water supply is not clean, we filter the water to screen out harmful ingredients.  Divine covenants help us filter out of our minds impurities that could harm us.  When we choose to deny ourselves of all ungodliness, we lose nothing of value and gain the glory of eternal life.  Covenants do not hold us down, they elevate us beyond the limits of our own power and perspective.”
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.